Good luck Noddy!

We would like to share with you the most wonderful rehabilitation story about a King Penguin that was nicknamed "Noddy".

Noddy was found in a very unwell state on the Tasman Peninsula in south east Tasmania. Luckily she was rescued promptly and went into care with local seabird expert and wildlife carer Lesley Kurek.

Lesley took the penguin to see the wonderful team at the Mayfair Veterinary Clinic and it was determined she had a lung infection as well as being quite emaciated 😔

After weeks of intensive care and supportive nutrition Lesley had done the most incredible job of getting Noddy's health back on course. Noddy then decided to go in to "moult" (which penguins do once a year). Unlike most birds that will moult a few feathers at a time, penguins moult all of their feathers all at once in a short space of time (around 3 weeks) - which is quite a sight to see! They are not waterproof during this time, so Noddy had to stay put until her feathers had all grown back.

Once Noddy had finished moulting it was time for her to come to Bonorong to be tested in our large saltwater pool and have a final vet check in our Wildlife Hospital.

Noddy passed all her final health and fitness checks, which meant it was time for release! After 7 weeks of intensive rehabilitation it was an amazing sight to see this penguin back in the water where it belonged! 😃

A huge shout out to Lesley for the incredible rehabilitation effort with this bird. We are so pleased we could help in the small capacity we could, but this just shows you the sort of commitment and dedication that our local wildlife carers put in for animals in need - all voluntarily and off their own backs!

Happy World Wildlife Day!

Today - 3 March - is World Wildlife Day!

To celebrate, we’d like to introduce Freddo, one of our resident Tasmanian Tree Frogs. Freddo was excited to hear that his brand new aquarium arrived this week, ready to be fitted into the bigger facilities being built for him and his froggy friends.

Freddo, one of our Tasmanian Tree Frogs.

Many visitors to Bonorong may not know that we have frogs onsite, as they are kept off-display in a specially-designed quarantine facility. The species is highly susceptible to the fungal infection chytridiomycosis, which has caused the extinction or population decline of hundreds of frog species around the world.

With support from the Tasmanian Government and NRM South, Bonorong is keeping a small number of the frogs in captivity in an attempt to better understand the species. This knowledge will be crucial to saving the species if wild populations begin to fall.

We’re pretty excited to be involved in this work, and to see the new facilities begin to take shape. Especially exciting is the chance to share this unique Tasmanian species with our visitors – yes, some of our frogs will be going on display later in the year! Keep an eye out as you may just be lucky enough to come nose-to-nose through the glass. 

In the meantime, what can you do to help our native frogs?

Plenty! Chytrid is spread through a variety of means, including the movement of infected frogs, tadpoles, mud and water. Here are some tips to help prevent the spread of chytrid:

• Clean boots and camping equipment of soil and allow to dry completely before visiting remote areas.
• Plan to wash and dry vehicles (including tyres) and equipment before entering dirt roads within areas that are reserved or largely free of human disturbance.
• When disposing of water within a natural environment ensure you are as far as possible from creeks, rivers, ponds and lakes.
• Never move frogs and tadpoles to new locations.
• Never release frogs found in imported fresh produce (usually banana boxes) and nursery products.
   

Houndstooth Studio Returns!

We had the absolute pleasure of hosting the incredibly talented Alex from Houndstooth Studio by Alex Cearns at the Sanctuary this week! 

A huge thank you to both Alex Cearns and Debora Brown for their amazing ongoing support and fundraising work they have done for Bonorong. These people are salt of the earth and will be selling photography prints soon to raise much needed funds for the continued operations of our Bonorong Wildlife Hospital. Keep an eye out on our page as we will let you know how to get your wombat fix as a number of gorgeous prints will be available to buy very soon! 

We also want to send a MASSIVE thanks to World Expeditions and Seagate for their support in funding the photographers to come and spend time at the Sanctuary for the #wildatheartproject

Remember to support good businesses that support good things and if you can take the time to send them a message or email to thank them for supporting Tassie's special creatures then do! 

This is a photo of dear Mariah the wombat midway through the shoot, taking a small leg cuddle because when the arms are too far away the legs are better then nothing! 

The Bonorong Wildlife Hospital Opening

We are sure most of you have seen by now that an incredible dream finally came to reality last night, a dream that started five and a half years ago! Our little wildlife sanctuary has finally done it: we have built Tasmania's first Wildlife Hospital! 

We are all so proud and wanted to share a few more photos of our event last night and to also share a message from our Director Greg, please read below;

"Evening everyone! I just wanted to say another massive thank you to all of our staff, donors, supporters, rescuers, carers and the rest of the world for helping get the Bonorong Wildlife Hospital finally open. If you haven't had a chance to watch the video of our grand opening event last night then please take the time to watch it when you can. A lot of people deserve all of our thanks and we hope you can support the people that supported us in return - they deserve it!

To our Bonorong staff members, please remember it is all of you that made it possible! You are all the most important thing that Bonorong has. Just think of the 30,000 animals you have helped to rescue and rehabilitate in the last few years, these animals would thank you so much if they knew how to. To the amazing folks that are our donors, we can't wait to show you the results that this hospital will bring for wildlife in Tasmania and what you have helped achieve. To our rescuers and all wildlife carers a huge shout out to the work you do under emotional stress and the time and money you all put in, I hope this helps your success rates and helps the stress with knowing the best care possible can be reached when needed in our dedicated facility. And finally thanks to our supporters and visitors, whether you like it or not, you are all a part of everything we achieve and we could not do the work we do without you!

Exciting times are ahead to see what other goals we can kick for wildlife & conservation in Tasmania now that this dream is a reality. Thanks so much team, cheers - Greg"

You can watch the video of the opening on Facebook, and check out some of the photos of the opening below. Photos thanks to Matthew Burniston, Barrie Irons, Vica Bailey and Matt Thompson.

Winners announced!

Thank you for all your votes (in the form of likes and shares) and thank you to our judges for making a decision!

Well, kind of. They actually couldn't agree on a single winner - so they have chosen TWO winners!! Congratulations to Zaylee Saint and Samantha Madeleine for their winning contributions! We'll be in touch to finalise the finer details.

And don't forget - pre-orders for calendar close THIS WEEKEND (11.59pm Sunday 22 October 2017).

 Get in while you can:
https://www.bonorong.com.au/buy/calendar

Photo by Samantha Madeleine.

Photo by Zaylee Saint.

Have your photo featured (and pre-order your calendar now!)

It’s true - the 2018 Bonorong Calendar is here! (Almost!)

We’re now taking pre-orders for our first ever calendar production. It’ll have twelve months, squares with dates in them, and gorgeous photos of our residents. But it’s missing something - and that’s you! (Well, your photo at least.)

Psst - just want to pre-order your calendar? Head here!

We’re giving you the opportunity to have your photo printed in our calendar on the month of your choosing. Here’s the detail:

• Your photo must have been taken at the Sanctuary
• Needs to be in landscape format
• Needs to be available in high resolution
• You must own the copyright for the photo 
• Only one submission per person

To submit your favourite photo and enter for your chance to feature in a month of your choosing, simply email your photo to: calendar@bonorong.com.au before 11.59pm on Sunday 8 October.

We’ll then put together a ‘finalists’ gallery on Facebook, and let the public have their say on who should win!

So what are you waiting for? Pre-order your calendar now, and send us your best photo!

http://bonorong.com.au/buy/calendar

The not so small print

• By entering the competition you are providing Bonorong with the right to use your photo in the 2018 Bonorong Calendar, should you be chosen, as well as in any promotional marketing for said calendar.
• If there is an identifiable human in your photo you must have their express permission to enter the photo knowing that their face may be somewhat famous, at least for a year.
• The winner will be determined by the combination of two parts - 50% weight will be given to public voting (the number of ‘likes’ per image) and 50% weight will be given to Bonorong judges marks (based solely on opinion).
• You do not have to pre-order a calendar to enter, but we recommend you do because it’s going to be ace. 
• The winning prize is your photo being published and distributed in the 2018 Bonorong Calendar. This cannot be exchanged for a cash value (as clearly it is priceless) and no payment will be provided to the winner.
• The copyright for the photo will at all times remain with the photographer.